Ice creeper



April 10, 1956 I G. CROCKER 2,741,040

ICE CREEPER Filed July 2, 1954 George Cracker United States Patent Gfiice 2,741,040 Patented Apr. 10, 1956 ICE CREEPER George Crocker, Mount Morris, Ill. Application July 2, 1954, Serial No. 440,933 7 Claims. (Cl. 36-62) The invention relates to ice creepers designed for application to rubbers for mens and womens shoes.

Ice creepers have heretofore been designed to be fastened by means of straps or the like onto the wearers shoes. The presence or absence of rubbers made no difference. That type of creepers was objectionable because of the expense involved in the more or less complicated fastening harness and because of the difficulty and time consumedin applying and removing the same.

In many instances too, unless the fastening harness was properly adjusted to the shoe the creeper was not always located to best advantage to take the proper hold on the ice, and, under such circumstances, the wearer was apt to slip and fall despite the precaution of having applied the creepers. It is, therefore, the principal object of my invention to provide creepers designed for application to the side wall of rubbers at the instep, so that when the creepers have been once properly adjusted in the application thereof to the rubbers the rubbers can be put on and taken off without disturbing the creepers and yet the creepers can be removed readily enough from the rubbers when there is no further immediate need for their use.

In the creeper attachment of my invention an inverted U-shaped clip having a channel in one side thereof is applied over the side wall of the rubber from the top, and an L-shaped spur member is provided, the vertical leg of which is slidable upwardly in the channel on the clip from below the rubber and adapted to be suitably pulled upwardly with adjustable spring tension and secured under such tension by a quick-action fastener holding the substantially horizontal leg of the L pressed upwardly against the instep of the rubber, so that the downwardly projecting spurs that are provided on that leg of the L are located to best possible advantage for taking hold on the ice to prevent slippage in walking. Gripping teeth are preferably also provided on the top surface of the last mentioned leg of the L to take hold on the instep portion of the rubber to prevent slippage of the creeper attachment and consequent shifting thereof from a set position.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing a pair of mens rubbers to which have been applied ice creepers made in accordance with my invention;

Fig. 2 is a'section on the line 22 of Fig. 1 showing the creeper attachment substantially full size and better illustrating the mode of attachment thereof;

Fig. 3 is a disassembled view of the creeper attachment viewing the clip in side elevation and the L-shaped spur member edgewise, similarly as in Fig. 2, and

Fig. 4 is a side elevational detail of the spur member on the line 44 of Fig. 3.

Referring to the drawing, the ice creeper attachments of my invention are indicated generally in Figs. 1 and 2 by the reference numeral 5 applied to the side wall 6 of rubbers 7, the latter being Worn over shoes or oxfords in the usual way. The creeper attachments 5 are usually, but not necessarily, applied to the inner side wall, so that they are not so conspicuous. Each creeper consists of an inverted U-shaped frame or clip 8 consisting of a fairly thin blade '9 defining the one arm of the U disposed on the inner side of the side wall 6 of the rubber, and an elongated channel 10 forming the other arm of the U. The channel 10 has inwardly projecting flanges 11 provided longitudinallythereof and has at its upper end a top wall 12 in the middle of which is a notch 13 for reception of the links of a flexible ball chain 14 in the fastening of the creeper attachment to the rubber. The blade 9 is preferably elongated sufficiently to be impressed to a certain extent into the bottom wall 15 of the rubber at the instep in the application of the creeper to the. rubber, as shown inFig. 2, whereby to help anchor the attachment firmly at the instep location and prevent shifting of the creeper in a forward or rearward direction from a set position. 16 is the L-shaped spur member, the vertical leg 17 of which is slidable in the channel 10 from the lower end after the clip 8 has been applied to the side wall of the rubber at the instep. The other leg 18 of the spur member is slotted lengthwise from the outer end thereof partway to the inner end, as indicated at 19, and has downwardly curved prongs, teeth or spurs 20 provided in the extremity of this bifurcated portion adapted to dig or cut into the ice at each step so as to prevent or at least reduce likelihood of slipping when walking on ice and snow covered surfaces. Gripping teeth 21 are'provided on top of leg 18 who impressed more or less into the bottom of the instep p0rtion15'of the rubber when the spur member 16 is properly applied and is pulled upwardly under a predetermined spring tension. A coiled tension spring 22 supplies this spring tension and is suitably anchored at its lower end to the lower end portion of leg 17, as indicated at 23, and is connected at its upper end, as indicated at 24, to one end of the chain 14.

In applying these creeper attachments to rubbers, the clips 8 are first applied in the manner previously described and then the spur members 16 are assembled on the clips 8 in the manner described, after which a pull is exerted on chain 14 to stretch the spring 22 a predetermined amount to hold the leg 18 of the spur member up tightly against the bottom of the instep portion 15 of the rubber, and then the chain 14 is locked to the clip 8 in notch 13 on wall 12, as shown in Fig. 2. It is evident, therefore, that these creepers can be applied to the rubbers before or after the rubbers are put on and that the rubbers can be taken oif without disturbing the creepers, so that no time is wasted in applying the creepers and later in removing the same each time they are used. The creepers can, of course, be removed just as readily from the rubbers while the rubbers are on or off. Once the creepers have been properly applied so that gripping teeth 21 are properly effective there is no danger of their shifting about from a set position and hence, the ice engaging spurs or teeth 20 are always located to the best possible advantage for best protection of the wearer in walking on slippery surfaces. It is conceivable, of course, that the present invention, while especially designed and adapted for application to rubbers, could be made for application directly to the sides of low shoes or oxfords also.

It is believed the foregoing description conveys a good understanding of the objects and advantages of my invention. The appended claims have been drawn to cover all legitimate modifications and adaptations.

I claim:

1. An ice creeper for application to the side wall of footwear at the instep, said creeper comprising an inverted U-shaped clip member adapted to closely straddle said side wall for support, and an L-shaped spur member, the vertical leg of which has means for adjustably securing the same, to that portion of the clip disposed outside said side wall, and the horizontal leg of which is arranged to project under the instep portion of the footwear and by engagement therewith prevent upward displacement of the creeper and has thereon, ground engaging spur means to prevent slippage in walking.

2. An ice creeper as set forth in claim 1 including antislip means on top of the horizontal leg of the L-shaped spur member arranged to engage the instep of footwear to which the ice creeper is applied to prevent displacement of the creeper from a set position on the footwear.

3. An ice creeper as set forth in claim 1 including spring means interconnecting said clip and spur members holding the clip member against upward displacement on said footwear side wall and urging said spur member up: wardly so that. the horizontal leg is pressed resiliently against the instep portion of the footwear.

4. An ice creeper as set forth in claim 1 including spring means interconnecting said clip and spur members holding the clip member against upward displacement on said footwear side wall and urging said spur member upwardly so that the horizontal leg is pressed resiliently against the instep portion of the footwear, and anti-slip means on top of the horizontal leg of the L-shaped spur member to prevent displacement of the creeper from a set position on the footwear.

5. An ice creeper for application to the side wall of footwear at the instep portion, said attachment comprising an inverted U-shaped clip member adapted to closely straddle said side wall for support, one arm of the U having a channel guide extending lengthwise thereof, an L-shaped spur member, the vertical leg of which is slidable into and out of the channel guide and slidably adjustable therein to position the horizontal leg under and in engagement with the instep portion of the footwear, said horizontal leg carrying ground engaging spur means to prevent slippage in walking, and spring means acting between said clip and spur members when disposed in assembled relationship urging the clip member downwardly and the spur member upwardly.

6. An ice creeper for application to the side wall of footwear at the instep portion, said attachment comprising an inverted U-shaped clip member adapted to closely straddle said side wall for support, one arm of the U having a channel guide extending lengthwise thereof, an L-shaped spur member, the vertical leg of which is slidable into and out of the channel guide and slidably adjustable therein to position the horizontal leg under and in engagement with the instep portion of the footwear, said horizontal leg carrying ground engaging spur means to prevent slippage in walking, a coiled tension spring connected at one end to said spur member, and means adjustably connecting the other end of said spring to said clip member when said clip and spur members are disposed in assembled relationship with the spring more or less stretched to urge the clip member downwardly and, the spur member upwardly.

7. An attachment as set forth in claim 5 including gripping teeth projecting upwardly from the horizontal leg of said spur member to take hold of the instep portion of the footwear to prevent displacement of the attachment from a set position.

References Cited in the file of this patent FOREIGN PATENTS 58,446 Sweden Apr. 4, 1922 

